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The Dorman interview and those PureView camera phones

A short, but interesting interview is excerpted and linked to below, with one of the biggest fans of Nokia's camera tech, Richard Dorman (a.k.a. 'Sheridan01' in many instances online). He's taken more super photos with the Nokia 808 and Lumia 1020 than you've had hot dinners, so well worth reading through the piece and following the various image and gallery links.

From the full textual interview:

Being a great admirer of his work, I asked if Richard Dorman (known as Sheridan01 on Twitter, Flickr and 500px) to answer a few of the questions I had how he experienced working with the Nokia Lumia 1020 in comparison with the Nokia 808 PureView.

But first, I’ll show you some of his work, so you’ll get an idea why I’m interested in his thoughts about these two Nokia PureView devices. Have a look at all of his sets on Flickr for instance, with more than 3000 shots in total, from which I’ll share just one that has become very popular, called “Azure Window” (click on the shot for the original on Flickr).

Of course, you’ll see more of his shots in this interview. Not being a professional he insisted that I’d describe him as an “amateur mobile photographer”.

- Mr. Dorman, a few owners of the 808 PureView noticed some important differences with the Lumia 1020: it has more noise and more saturation. What’s your experience with the 1020 in that respect?

I feel the 808 owners are correct in these statements. There is fractionally more noise in 1020 images, but it is not masses. As regards saturation, yes there is more saturation. But then in my opinion the 808′s images were under-saturated. I always had my 808 set to vivid and quite often increased saturation too. I suggest they have a look at the top images on 500px and Flickr, all the top landscape images on there have their saturation increased on editing. More saturation is more pleasing to the eye and I find the images created by the 1020 to be stunning. Not that I am saying the 808′s images are not stunning too. I have two 808s and absolutely love the camera.

- In how far do you think it’s an important feature to be able to edit the shot on the phone itself (“Zoom Reinvented”)?

I think it is vastly important, not only because it shows innovation from Nokia, but it is fun and for those occasions when you don’t have enough time to frame your pictures, then it is incredibly useful.

- In your experience, working with the 1020 – is it easier to get the result you want (compared to the 808)? What are the important differences to you?

I would actually say yes, this could simply be down to the larger screen. Or I am getting better at taking images. But one thing I do like is the “Rule of Thirds grid” I find it much more user friendly than the grid on the 808.

We've featured Richard's photos, especially those of the long exposure variety, here on the All About sites before, so it was interesting to hear from the man himself. I was a little shocked to read, later in the article, that he only used the Nokia 808 as a camera and not as a smartphone, but then perhaps that's perhaps the ultimate compliment to the camera tech in both the 808 and 1020 - that it's good enough to warrant using the device for this function alone. That you can also use either the Nokia 808 or 1020 as your main smartphone is the icing on the cake provided you like using the relevant platforms(!)

Watch this space for more 1020 coverage on the All About sites, by the way, in the build up to the full European availability. And don't forget that we've already reviewed the Lumia 1020 in detail, here, here (stills) and here (video).